Ms. Brown of Florida
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Veterans’
Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on
Science, Space, and
Technology, the
Judiciary, Ways and
Means, Foreign
Affairs, and Armed
Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish
a veterans jobs corps, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the
Veterans Jobs Corps Act of
2012.

2.

Veterans Jobs
Corps

(a)

Establishment

The
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall, in cooperation with the Attorney General,
the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of
Homeland Security, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Commanding General of
the United States Army Corps of Engineers, establish a veterans jobs corps to
employ veterans—

(1)

in conservation,
resource management, and historic preservation projects on public lands and
maintenance and improvement projects for cemeteries under the jurisdiction of
the National Cemetery Administration; and

As part of the veterans jobs corps, the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the
Secretary of the Interior, and the Commanding General of the United States Army
Corps of Engineers shall—

(A)

employ veterans to
carry out projects described in subsection (a)(1); or

(B)

award grants to,
or enter into contracts with, State governments, local governments, or
nongovernmental entities to employ veterans to carry out projects described in
subsection (a)(1).

(2)

Priority

In
employing or awarding grants or contracts to employ veterans under this
subsection, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of Agriculture,
the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Commanding
General of the United States Army Corps of Engineers shall give priority
towards the employment of veterans who served on active duty in the Armed
Forces on or after September 11, 2001.

(3)

Coordination

The
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall coordinate the activities of the Attorney
General, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary
of Homeland Security, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Commanding General
of the United States Army Corps of Engineers to employ veterans as part of the
veterans job corps.

(4)

Oversight of
projects

The secretaries referred to in paragraph (1) and the
Commanding General of the United States Army Corps of Engineers shall each
provide oversight of the projects for which they employ veterans under
subparagraph (A) of such paragraph or award grants or enter into contracts
under subparagraph (B) of such paragraph.

(c)

First
responders

(1)

Firefighters

As
part of the veterans jobs corps, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall award
grants under section 34 of the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974
(15 U.S.C. 2229a) to hire veterans as firefighters.

(2)

Law enforcement
officers

As part of the veterans jobs corps, the Attorney General
shall award grants under part Q of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd et seq.) to hire veterans as law
enforcement officers.

(3)

Priority

In
awarding grants under this subsection to hire veterans, the Secretary of
Homeland Security and the Attorney General shall give priority to the hiring of
veterans who served on active duty in the Armed Forces on or after September
11, 2001.

(d)

Assistance

(1)

In
general

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may provide assistance
to the secretaries described in subsection (a), the Attorney General, and the
Commanding General of the United States Army Corps of Engineers to carry out
the veterans jobs corps. Such assistance may take the form of a transfer under
paragraph (2).

(2)

Transfers

Except
as otherwise provided in this subsection, of amounts appropriated or otherwise
made available to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out this section,
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may transfer such amounts as the Secretary
considers appropriate to carry out the veterans jobs corps to the
following:

If
a secretary referred to in subsection (b)(1) or the Commanding General of the
United States Army Corps of Engineers seeks assistance under paragraph (1) to
employ a veteran to carry out a project under subparagraph (A) of subsection
(b)(1) or to award a grant or contract to carry out a project under
subparagraph (B) of such subsection, such secretary or the Commanding General
shall submit to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs an application therefor at
such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs may require.

(B)

Selection

The
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall, in consultation with the steering
committee established under subparagraph (C), award assistance under this
paragraph in accordance with such criteria as the steering committee
establishes.

(C)

Steering
committee

(i)

In
general

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a
steering committee—

(I)

to establish
selection criteria for the awarding of assistance under paragraph (1) to employ
a veteran to carry out a project under subparagraph (A) of subsection (b)(1) or
to award a grant or contract to carry out a project under subparagraph (B) of
such subsection; and

(II)

to provide the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs with advice on awarding assistance under this
subsection with respect to projects described in subsection (a)(1) and carrying
out the veterans jobs corps under subsection (b).

(ii)

Composition

The
steering committee shall be composed of the following:

(I)

The Secretary of
Veterans Affairs.

(II)

The Secretary of
Agriculture.

(III)

The Secretary of
Commerce.

(IV)

The Secretary of
the Interior.

(V)

The Commanding
General of the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

(iii)

Chairperson

The
chairperson of the steering committee shall be the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs.

(iv)

Advisory
input

The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Labor may
provide advice to the steering committee.

(4)

Assistance for
first responders

Not more than 10 percent of amounts appropriated
or otherwise made available to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out
this section may be transferred to the Attorney General and the Secretary of
Homeland Security to employ veterans under subsection (c).

(e)

Reporting
framework

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a
reporting framework to regularly monitor and evaluate the veterans jobs corps
to ensure proper oversight and accountability of the veterans jobs
corps.

(f)

Outreach

The
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that veterans employed under the
veterans jobs corps are aware of benefits and assistance available to them
under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

(g)

Authorization of
appropriations

(1)

In
general

There is available without further appropriation to the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out this section, $1,000,000,000 for the
period of fiscal years 2012 through 2017.

(2)

Limitation

Of
amounts made appropriated or otherwise made available to carry out this
section, not more than five percent may be spent to administer the veterans
jobs corps.

(h)

Veteran
defined

In this section, the term veteran has the
meaning given the term in section 101 of title 38, United States Code.

3.

Pilot program on
providing veterans with access at One-Stop Centers to Internet websites to
facilitate online job searches

(a)

In
general

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall commence a pilot program to assess the
feasibility and advisability of providing veterans seeking employment with
access to computing facilities to facilitate the access of such veterans to
Internet websites that—

(1)

match such
veterans with available jobs based on the skills the veterans acquired as
members of the Armed Forces; and

(2)

allow employers to
post information about available jobs.

(b)

Duration

The
pilot program required by subsection (a) shall be carried out during the
one-year period beginning on the date on which the Secretary commences the
pilot program.

(c)

Locations

The
pilot program shall be carried out at such one-stop centers and such other
locations as the Secretary of Labor considers appropriate for purposes of the
pilot program.

(d)

Assistance with
use of Internet websites

(1)

In
general

Under the pilot program, the Secretary of Labor shall
provide each veteran using computing facilities made available under the pilot
program with assistance in using such facilities to find employment via
Internet websites described in subsection (a).

(2)

Disabled
veterans' outreach program specialists and local veterans' employment
representatives

Each State that employs a disabled veterans'
outreach program specialist under section 4103A of title 38, United States
Code, or a local veterans' employment representative under section 4104 of such
title shall make such employees available to the Secretary of Labor for
purposes of providing assistance under paragraph (1).

(e)

Report

Not
later than 455 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary
of Labor shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the Committee
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on
Veterans’ Affairs and the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House
of Representatives a report on the pilot program that includes the findings of
the Secretary with respect to the feasibility and advisability of providing
computing facilities as described in subsection (a) with assistance as
described in subsection (d) at all one-stop centers.

(f)

Funding

Amounts
made available to the Secretary of Labor to make grants or contracts under
section 4102A(b)(5) of title 38, United States Code, shall be available to the
Secretary to carry out the pilot program required by subsection (a).

(g)

One-Stop center
defined

In this section, the term one-stop center
means a center described in section 134(c) of the Workforce Investment Act of
1998 (29 U.S.C. 2864(c)).

4.

State
consideration of military training in granting certain State certifications and
licenses as a condition on the receipt of funds for veterans employment and
training

(a)

In
general

Section 4102A(c) of
title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the
following:

(9)(A)

As a condition of a
grant or contract under which funds are made available to a State in order to
carry out section 4103A or 4104 of this title for any program year, the
Secretary shall require the State—

(i)

to demonstrate that when the State
approves or denies a certification or license described in subparagraph (B) for
a veteran the State takes into consideration any training received or
experience gained by the veteran while serving on active duty in the Armed
Forces; and

(ii)

to disclose to the Secretary in
writing—

(I)

criteria applicants must satisfy to
receive a certification or license described in subparagraph (B) by the
State;

(II)

a description of the standard
practices of the State for evaluating training received by veterans while
serving on active duty in the Armed Forces and evaluating the documented work
experience of such veterans during such service for purposes of approving or
denying a certification or license described in subparagraph (B); and

(III)

identification of areas in which
training and experience described in subclause (II) fails to meet criteria
described in subclause (I).

(B)

A
certification or license described in this subparagraph is any of the
following:

(i)

A license to be a State tested nursing
assistant or a certified nursing assistant.

(ii)

A commercial driver’s license.

(iii)

An emergency medical technician
license EMT–B or EMT–I.

(iv)

An emergency medical
technician–paramedic license.

(C)

The Secretary shall share the
information the Secretary receives under subparagraph (A)(ii) with the
Secretary of Defense to help the Secretary of Defense improve training for
military occupational specialties so that individuals who receive such training
are able to receive a certification or license described in subparagraph (B)
from a
State.

.

(b)

Effective
date

The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply with
respect to a program year beginning on or after the date of the enactment of
this Act.

Clause (iii) of
section 4102A(c)(2)(B) of title 38, United States Code, is amended to read as
follows:

(iii)(I)

In carrying out this paragraph, the
Secretary shall establish minimum funding levels and may establish
hold-harmless criteria for States.

(II)

Except as provided in subclause (III), at a
minimum, the minimum funding levels established under subclause (I) shall
ensure that each State receives sufficient funding to support at least one
disabled veterans' outreach program specialist appointed under section
4103A(a)(1) of this title and one local veterans' employment representative
assigned under section 4104(b) of this title per 5,000 square miles of service
delivery area within the State.

(III)

In determining minimum funding levels under
subclause (II), the Secretary may exclude consideration of counties with a
population density of less than one person per square
mile.

.

(b)

Report

(1)

In
general

Not later than one year after the date of the enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall submit to Congress a report on the
effect of the amendment made by subsection (a) on veterans who reside in highly
rural areas.

(2)

Elements

The
report required by paragraph (1) shall include the following:

(A)

A description of
the effect of the amendment made by subsection (a) on veterans who reside in
highly rural areas.

(B)

Such
recommendations for legislative or administrative action as the Secretary
considers appropriate to improve the provision of contracts and grants under
section 4102A(b)(5) of such title to meet the needs of veterans who reside in
highly rural areas and are eligible for services furnished under chapter 41 of
such title.

(3)

Highly rural
defined

In this subsection, the term highly rural,
in the case of an area, means that the area consists of a county or counties
having a population of less than seven persons per square mile.

6.

Off-base
transition training

(a)

Provision of
off-Base transition training

During the one-year period beginning on the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall provide the
Transition Assistance Program under section 1144 of title 10, United States
Code, to eligible individuals at locations other than military installations to
assess the feasibility and advisability of providing such program to eligible
individuals at locations other than military installations.

(b)

Eligible
individuals

For purposes of this section, an eligible individual
is a veteran or the spouse of a veteran.

(c)

Locations

(1)

Number of
States

The Secretary shall carry out the training under
subsection (a) in not less than three and not more than five States selected by
the Secretary for purposes of this section.

(2)

Selection of
States with high unemployment

Of the States selected by the
Secretary under paragraph (1), at least two shall be States with high rates of
unemployment among veterans.

(3)

Number of
locations in each State

The Secretary shall provide training
under subsection (a) to eligible individuals at a sufficient number of
locations within each State selected under this subsection to meet the needs of
eligible individuals in such State.

(4)

Selection of
locations

The Secretary shall select locations for the provision
of training under subsection (a) to facilitate access by participants and may
not select any location on a military installation other than a National Guard
or reserve facility that is not located on an active duty military
installation.

(d)

Inclusion of
information about veterans benefits

The Secretary shall ensure
that the training provided under subsection (a) generally follows the content
of the Transition Assistance Program under section 1144 of title 10, United
States Code.

(e)

Annual
report

Not later than March 1 of any year during which the
Secretary provides training under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to
Congress a report on the provision of such training.

(f)

Comptroller
General report

Not later than 180 days after the termination of
the one-year period described in subsection (a), the Comptroller General of the
United States shall submit to Congress a report on the training provided under
such subsection. The report shall include the evaluation of the Comptroller
General regarding the feasibility and advisability of carrying out off-base
transition training at locations nationwide.

Paragraph (3) of section 6331(h) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking the period at the end and
inserting , or, with respect to payments made during the 5-year period
beginning on the date of the enactment of the Veterans Jobs Corps Act of 2012, to a
Medicare provider or supplier under title XVIII of the Social Security
Act..

8.

Research and
development program for ultra-deepwater and unconventional natural gas and
other petroleum resources

(a)

Repeal

Subtitle J of title IX of the Energy Policy
Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16371 et seq.) is repealed.

(b)

Rescission

The
unobligated balances of funds made available for fiscal year 2012 under section
999H of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16378) (as it existed before
the amendment made by subsection (a)) are rescinded permanently.

9.

Revocation or
denial of passport in case of certain unpaid taxes

(a)

In
general

Subchapter D of chapter 75 of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

7345.

Revocation or
denial of passport in case of certain tax delinquencies

(a)

In
general

If the Secretary
receives certification by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue that any
individual has a seriously delinquent tax debt in an amount in excess of
$50,000, the Secretary shall transmit such certification to the Secretary of
State for action with respect to denial, revocation, or limitation of a
passport pursuant to section 4 of the Act entitled An Act to regulate
the issue and validity of passports, and for other purposes, approved
July 3, 1926 (22 U.S.C. 211a et seq.), commonly known as the Passport
Act of 1926.

(b)

Seriously
delinquent tax debt

For
purposes of this section, the term seriously delinquent tax debt
means an outstanding debt under this title for which a notice of lien has been
filed in public records pursuant to section 6323 or a notice of levy has been
filed pursuant to section 6331, except that such term does not include—

(1)

a debt that is being paid in a timely
manner pursuant to an agreement under section 6159 or 7122, and

(2)

a debt with respect to which a collection
due process hearing under section 6330, or relief under subsection (b), (c), or
(f) of section 6015, is requested or pending.

(c)

Adjustment for
inflation

In the case of a
calendar year beginning after 2012, the dollar amount in subsection (a) shall
be increased by an amount equal to—

(1)

such dollar
amount, multiplied by

(2)

the cost-of-living
adjustment determined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year, determined
by substituting calendar year 2011 for calendar year
1992 in subparagraph (B) thereof.

If any
amount as adjusted under the preceding sentence is not a multiple of $1,000,
such amount shall be rounded to the next highest multiple of
$1,000.

.

(b)

Clerical
amendment

The table of sections for subchapter D of chapter 75 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following
new item:

Sec. 7345. Revocation or denial of passport in case of certain
tax
delinquencies.

.

(c)

Authority for
information sharing

(1)

In
general

Subsection (l) of section 6103 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:

(23)

Disclosure of
return information to Department of State for purposes of passport revocation
under section 7345

(A)

In
general

The Secretary shall, upon receiving a certification
described in section 7345, disclose to the Secretary of State return
information with respect to a taxpayer who has a seriously delinquent tax debt
described in such section. Such return information shall be limited to—

(i)

the taxpayer
identity information with respect to such taxpayer, and

(ii)

the amount of
such seriously delinquent tax debt.

(B)

Restriction on
disclosure

Return information disclosed under subparagraph (A)
may be used by officers and employees of the Department of State for the
purposes of, and to the extent necessary in, carrying out the requirements of
section 4 of the Act entitled An Act to regulate the issue and validity
of passports, and for other purposes, approved July 3, 1926 (22 U.S.C.
211a et seq.), commonly known as the Passport Act of
1926.

.

(2)

Conforming
amendment

Paragraph (4) of section 6103(p) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking or (22) each place
it appears in subparagraph (F)(ii) and in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)
and inserting (22), or (23).

(d)

Revocation
authorization

The Act entitled An Act to regulate the
issue and validity of passports, and for other purposes, approved July
3, 1926 (22 U.S.C. 211a et seq.), commonly known as the Passport Act of
1926, is amended by adding at the end the following:

4.

Authority to deny
or revoke passport

(a)

Ineligibility

(1)

Issuance

Except
as provided under subsection (b), upon receiving a certification described in
section 7345 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 from the Secretary of the
Treasury, the Secretary of State may not issue a passport or passport card to
any individual who has a seriously delinquent tax debt described in such
section.

(2)

Revocation

The
Secretary of State shall revoke a passport or passport card previously issued
to any individual described in subparagraph (A).

(b)

Exceptions

(1)

Emergency and
humanitarian situations

Notwithstanding subsection (a), the
Secretary of State may issue a passport or passport card, in emergency
circumstances or for humanitarian reasons, to an individual described in
subsection (a)(1).

(2)

Limitation for
return to united states

Notwithstanding subsection (a)(2), the
Secretary of State, before revocation, may—

(A)

limit a previously
issued passport or passport card only for return travel to the United States;
or

(B)

issue a limited
passport or passport card that only permits return travel to the United
States.

.

(e)

Effective
date

The amendments made by this section shall take effect on
January 1, 2013.